The Assassin
by GraideDarkflash
Summary: When a hare is betrayed by his closest friend, he sets out to get revenge. As he does, he builds his skills until his name sends chills down the spines of vermin everywhere. The only thing in his path for vengeance...is everyone needs his help. PLZ R
1. The Hunters Become The Hunted

The Assassin

A Redwall fanfic by Greg Mills

© 2003 Greg Mills

I'm hardly going to bother with the legal stuff; its too boring.  So, I'll just put the basics.

I don't own Redwall, because it's an abbey, and I'm not religious.  The idea of talking animals is probably everyone's idea, but Brian Jacques is the one who put it into a book, and thus we have the Redwall novel collection.  Helluva lot better than Harry Potter…Eck…

Also, some quick background on Darkflash, the main character and also my sole ROC character for 12 years now…

Darkflash is a completely black hare, as in jet black.  His eyes are black as well.  He wears a long cloak-like coat that barely touches the ground.  It too, of course, is black.  Under the jacket is slightly baggy black shirt made of silk.  For his lower body, he wears a pair of noticeably baggy cargo pants, also black.  On his feet he wears a pair of black leather boots with metal bands melded into the bottoms and the nose of the boots.  Ya know, just for that extra pow when he kicks someone in the nuts…. owchies…on his fists are a pair of black leather gauntlets that reach to his elbow.  He wears brass knuckles on each hand.  The brass knuckles are blackened from flames to camouflage with the rest of his appearance.  On the top of the brass knuckles, where the actual bone knuckles under the brass ones are, there are spikes, four for each brass knuckle, since there are only four knuckles covered by the brass ones.  The spikes come out just far enough to draw blood, but they wouldn't kill if hit in the forehead with them.  Razor edged barbed wire is wrapped around the spikes, just for an extra damaging effect.  On the side of each waist is a long sheath, each one carrying a sabre.  The sabre within is custom forged by Darkflash's ancient ancestor from 10 generations ago.  Made of titanium and some other alloys, they are impossible to break or shear through.  The hard metal makes the blades carry no scars of any sort, despite 1000 years (seasons?) of use.  Each is 3½ feet in length, and are only slightly curved.  The sheaths swing behind Darkflash to overlap each other behind his back at waist level, so they don't create a nuisance of any sort.  He has countless other weapons, including almost a hundred throwing daggers in his cloak, a razor edged boomerang, A longbow across his back, a quiver with roughly 30 or so arrows, BLACK flighted of course, and some questionable bottles of a substance that causes an extreme explosion when thrown (nitro-glycerin).  Dark flash lacks the accent of all hares, mostly because he has been to so many places; he shook it off during his travels.

On to the story.

Darkflash growled as he watched the three rats blunder their way through the swamplands.  He was perched on a tree limb, watching the vermin blunder about mindlessly.  They had been hunting him for two days now, and he had decided he had had enough of the constant loss of silence, which was one of the few things he enjoyed in life.  He silently pulled out his longbow and knocked an arrow to it.  He silently pulled the bowstring back and took aim at the head of the lead one.  He fired from his crouched position in the tree.  The arrow blew into and through the vermin's head, leaving the now dead rat with half a head, the other half having fallen to the ground from the force of the arrow.  The body fell as the two other rats stood in shock.  Then, the one furthest from Darkflash's position fell as an arrow blew a hole through his chest.  The other rat panicked and fled.  Darkflash smiled sinisterly.  The smile matched him perfectly.  Then he spoke to himself.  His voice was silky smooth, tinged with a hint of malice and sinisterism, and quieted even the birds that heard it.  "Never leave a job unfinished…" He said quietly, then dropped from the tree, and then took off after the rat.  It was like racing a dragster against a newborn infant.  Darkflash pulled out his sabre and sliced as he flew past the rat.  Darkflash had been trying to stop before he even pulled out the blade.  He stopped about five yards from the rat and looked back.  The rat was still standing, as if paralyzed, a look of abject terror and horror on his face.  Darkflash smile and went over to the rat, then gently blew in the rat's face.  The rat's upper half slid off the bottom half and fell to the ground.  Darkflash tripped the still standing legs, smirked, and walked off.

"Fools."

And thus ends the opening chapter of my fanfic.  Please review, it will help.  Even if ya don't, I'm still writing this, regardless.  This is just to show my rather descriptive gore writing and Darkflash's attitude for battle.  Next chapter shall be a history one of Darkflash's past.  That chapter will be the key to understanding the rest of the story.  Stay tuned, and adios for now!


	2. History Part I

Chapter 2:  History 

I don't own Redwall.

  This is told from a narrarator's POV, and starts when Darkflash is roughly 6 seasons old.

  Darkflash smiled to himself.  Fireflash would never find him in here.  He was inside a small cave that was built into the sandy beaches near Salamandastron.  Darkflash sat and waited, knowing Fireflash would have to give up sooner or later.  Just then, something tapped him and a familiar voice piped up next to him.  

  "Found ya!"

  Darkflash grunted at the hare dibbun next to him.  "Fireflash, how do ya always find me?" 

  Fireflash smiled cheekily.  "Just do."

  Darkflash smirked cheekily back.  "If you can find me, then let's see if you can RUN from me, eh?"

  Darkflash jumped up and started chasing after his friend.  Both were equally fast, but Darkflash had the advantage of anticipation; his friend was easily predicted.  Fireflash stopped and dashed to the right, only to find Darkflash in front of him.  Fireflash tried to stop, failed, tripped, and fell down in front of Darkflash, who smiled at him.

  "You lose again, Fireflash."  Fireflash opened his mouth to say something, but Darkflash's mother calling stopped him.  

  Darkflash sighed dejectedly.  "Sorry, gotta go for dinner, I'll come by your house tomorrow, ok?"  

  Fireflash nodded as he stood up, brushing the sand off him.  "Ok, talk to ya tomorrow!"

  Darkflash nodded and started off towards Salamandastron, Fireflash going off to the dune, where his family, the civilians, stayed.  Darkflash was the son of the General of Salamandastron.  The mountain fortress had not seen a badger lord in many a season, so it was currently being ruled by the military leader.  Fireflash, however, was a sand-tender, or at least, the son of one.  The sand tenders were basically farmers who worked the sand daily, trying to make it into arable lands.  Since space on the mountain sides had failed to bring in enough food for everyone, Darkflash's father had come up with an idea, and had ordered the field workers to tend the sands and hopefully turn it into some arable land.  (Yes, it is possible to turn sand into arable land.  I've read it somewhere during science class a few years ago when I was still in high school)  So far, his idea was working, as the workers noticed some definite changes happening to the areas they worked on.  Hopefully sometime soon, if all went well, the land would be arable and the food shortage would end at last.

8 years later.

  Darkflash almost ran into a soldier as he dashed into the hallway of the officer's club.  He yelled a sorry to the soldier and continued running.  He was late.  His father was going to skin him alive!  Darkflash skid to a halt in front of the door to the officer's club, tried to rearrange himself, then entered.

  All the officer's inside quieted at Darkflash's entrance.  Then they all stood up and saluted.  Darkflash saluted back and waited.  His father's voice rang out.  It was curt and carried that tinge of "you're in trouble, young man" in it.  "Everyone be seated, Darkflash, that includes you!"

  Darkflash nodded his head at the tall black hare sitting at the head of the table and saluted, then sat with the rest, taking his place at the other end of the table.  Darkflash's father was still the reigning officer.  Darkflash nowadays was more than he had been when he was younger, now taking his place as Major General, just under his father, who was Master General.  His father, whose name was Nightstrike, glared at his son for a second, then reshuffled the parchment stack in front of him.  

  "As I was saying before my son chose the worst time to be late (Darkflash cringed mentally), the worker's in the field have all disappeared.  The only ones we currently have with us are dead.  They either disappear forever or show up somewhere where our patrols find them, dead.  And just last night, the entire field of crops were burned down."  The room went silent.  Darkflash could only stare.  Everyone in the fields was gone?  But that meant…that meant Fireflash was gone as well…his father continued.  

  "This has produced a double strike to us, as we know it is vermin, but we can do nothing about it.  These are vermin who know what they're doing.  They are guerrila's of the dunes."  

  An officer, a young hare with brown patches in his gray fur, stood up.  "But sir, if they are so skilled, then why have they not attacked our patrols?  Are they afraid?"  

  Nightstrike shook his head.  "I know not why they attack only the civilians.  Maybe they hope to starve us out.  Which they are going to be able to do…"  

  Darkflash shook his head.  "Father, we can't allow this.  We have to do SOMETHING."  

  Nightstrike shook his head.  "I'm afraid not, son.  They have us in a vice grip.  They could easily snipe us off if we were to attack.  We wouldn't have a chance."

  Darkflash nodded his head solemnly.  Nightstrike stroked his mustache and stood up.  "Well, that's all for tonight, we'll finish this tomorrow, dismissed."

  Everyone left, except Darkflash.  Nightstrike blinked at his son.  "What's the matter, son?"

  Darkflash spoke quietly, his eyes on aimed at the ground.  "Sir…my friend is among those taken.  How can you just let them be taken without a fight?"  

  Nightstrike sighed.  "Son, listen to me…I'm sorry about Fireflash.  But it'll do no good making a virtual suicide by marching against an army we can't fight."  Darkflash clenched his fists and spun around and walked out of the room, leaving his father in the room alone.

Later that night…

  (note, I have Darkflash and his family ((mom, dad, Darkflash)) in a small home just next to Salamandastron, the reason is because the overflow of soldiers in Salamandastron does have some negative effects, one of which is lack of living areas, so many have homes outside the mountain fortress)

  Darkflash lie in his bed, looking up at ceiling.  He was thinking about Fireflash and all the times he had spent with his friend.  They were almost like brothers to one another.  And his father had just let him go to the vermin…sleep began to overtake him eventually, and he fell into a nightmare plagued realm of dreams.

  A loud crashing sound woke him.  Darkflash sprang up as he heard his mother scream.  He crept over to the door and peered through a crack in it.  He could see his mother struggling as someone tried to grab her.  Darkflash's eyes turned blood red.  The bloodwrath, a wrath that usually only badger lords could have, was on him, and in its worst form.  Darkflash, unlike badger lords, however, could think quiet clearly when the hatred was upon him.  

  From the rage filled world of his mind popped up a voice, a voice that was that of his father's.  A memory appeared in his mind.  It was his father giving Darkflash a pair of sabres, a pair of sabres that had been passed down through the family for generations.  

  "Now son, take good care of these blades.  When the time is right, use them for justice and the good of beasts only, never to do evil."

  Darkflash frowned.  "But father, how will I know when it is time for me to use them?"  

  Nightstrike smiled.  "You will know, my son.  You will know."  The memory ended as a yell filled the room as his father rushed in, a sword in his hands.  With a slash, the attacker's arm fell off Darkflash's mother (whose name is June) and landed on the floor.  A scream filled the room.  A scream of that of a stoat.  June shrieked and jumped behind Nightstrike as more vermin filled the house.  Darkflash's eyes went even redder.

  He turned and looked at the two sheathed blades hanging on his wall.  He took them and hooked the sheaths to his belt, then took out the blades.  They felt like they were a part of him, as if he had always owned them and always known how to use them.  Darkflash turned.  He glared at the door, then jumped at it and kicked it out of the frame, then leaped into the room, both sabres drawn.  In front of him, 20 vermin…and Fireflash.  Darkflash took a step back, an expression of confusion on his face.  

  "F-f-fireflash?!  What are you doing-" 

  Fireflash smiled and spoke, cutting Darkflash off in mid-speech.  "With all these vermin?  Quite simple, really.  They're under my command."  

  Darkflash shook his head.  This made no sense.  "What?  Under…under your command?  To do what?"

  Fireflash smirked.  But this was not the friendly joking smirk Darkflash had always known.  This one was laden with vengeful contempt.  "To destroy Salamandastron."

  Darkflash shook his head, not believing what he was hearing.  "But you're my friend, why would you do this?"

  Fireflash smirk grew wider.  "I was never your friend, you gullible fool.  I was the son of a sand tender, but little did you realize my father was also one of the most influential officers in a very powerful vermin army.  When we had stolen enough food for our army, we captured the others and killed any that either tried to escape or that resisted.  Then we left, burning the crops that were not ready."

  Darkflash's eyes turned back to their red color, the wrath coming upon him again.  He gritted his teeth.  "You traitor.  You god damn filthy lying backstabbing TRAITOR!!!"  

  Fireflash nodded.  "Took ya long enough.  And now, 'friend,' its time we say goodbye.  Troops…attack."

  The vermin plowed towards Darkflash and Nightstrike, who had placed himself next to his son.  Darkflash saw as the vermin swarmed against them, more were coming in.  Darkflash didn't care, though.  He jumped forward, as did his father, and the two began to attack.  Darkflash took three with a quick sweep at stomach level, then brought it in an upwards circling arc, taking another two.  Nightstrike parried a spear thrust and stabbed its owner in the face, then brought it into the side of another, then jumped back as a sword sought his chest.  Nightstrike brought the sword down and severed the blade, then kicked the owner in the face.  The vermin's head snapped back, and his neck did likewise, minus the word back.  Suddenly, a spear stabbed through Nightstrike's shoulder.  Nightstrike chopped the head off the owner, then yanked the spear out of his shoulder.  

  Darkflash blocked two blades with his own and cut both of the offenders' heads off, then jumped back as a dagger came in, almost taking his eye out.  Darkflash swung the blade upwards and but the vermin from the genitals all the way to midway to the vermin's chest.  He heard his mother scream, and turned.  The vermin had brought a large pot with them, and it was filled with water.  They had her chained in it, and there was a fire underneath the pot.  Nightstrike saw this and hacked and slashed madly at the pressing vermin masses to get to his wife.  

  A spear handle clubbed into his head, dazing him.  Then the vermin grabbed him, chained him up, and threw him in with his wife.  Darkflash roared and hacked at the vermin masses, killing a dozen in ten seconds.  He attacked madly to get to father, blocking blows, shearing weapons, vermin bodies, and breaking vermin bones in his mad attempt.  

  Until a spearhead jammed its way into his neck.  

  Darkflash let out a gurgle and fell.  The vermin all turned their attention on the two hares in the pot.  The water was already hot, and growing hotter every second.  Darkflash however was not dead yet.  He couldn't move though.  Nor could he focus.  The shock from the thrust had numbed his senses and paralyzed him.  Somehow, the blade had missed all the major arteries and organs and even the spine.  

  Darkflash lie there, listening in horror as his parent's screams changed from normal screams of intense pain to garbled mutating screams of some horrible creature, to death rattles of intense pain, all the while listening as well to the insane laughter…the laughter that had once been the friendly chuckle of his best friend…


	3. History Part II

History Part II

By Greg Mills

I don't need to say I don't own Redwall.

Takes place directly after the events of History Part I, same POV.

Most of the vermin had trooped out of the house.  Fireflash was the only one to stay behind.  He looked around, savoring the sick stench of boiled flesh, and then his eyes were caught by Darkflash's prone form.  He smiled evilly and stomping on his ex-friend's body.  Laughing maniacally, he began kicking it like a soccer ball, until suddenly, he let out a yell and jumped back, holding his foot.  Darkflash stood up, blood dripping from his teeth from biting Fireflash's leg to the bone.  Fireflash let out a gasp of pain and shock at the same time.  He scowled at Darkflash.

"How are you still living?!  You have a hole the size of a spearhead through your neck, you CAN'T be alive!!"

  Darkflash smiled maniacally, the blood dripping off his teeth accentuating his appearance.  Blood stained the front of his black shirt (he has the same clothing from the description in the first chapter of this story, and always does from this point on.  Yes, he washes his clothes; he's not a slob.) from the neck injury, blood dripped slowly off the twin silver shining titanium sabres from the vermin he had slew earlier, and the cloak billowed slightly from a strong wind blowing through the windows, all of which had been smashed in.  Fireflash took a stumbling step backwards.  He had always thought of Darkflash of a friendly peace lover like most of the other goodbeasts were.  But he was wrong.  He had never known the military force of Salamandastron, nor had he known the dark ancestral blood vein that ran all over Darkflash's body, the blood vein that caused a wrath and power beyond comprehension of any creature.  Darkflash took a step forward to make up for Fireflash's backstep.  Fireflash shook his head in disbelief as he backed himself right into a wall, then, unwittingly, into a corner.  Darkflash smiled and spoke in a silky, cold, sinister voice that would remain with Darkflash for the rest of his life as his normal speech, and one that would remain in Fireflash's memory forever.  

"And now you will die…TRAITOR."

  With that, Darkflash leapt forward and swung his right sabre in from the right to left in a powerful sweep.  Fireflash pulled out a pair of short swords and blocked the sabre with one, then tried to retaliate by slashing at Darkflash's head.  Darkflash put the left up and blocked, then swung in the right in a diagonal upwards arch, which Fireflash blocked with much difficulty.  Fireflash leaped sideways and pulled out a throwing dagger and hurled it at Darkflash.  The now red-eyed hare moved like lightening.  The sabre flashed, and the dagger hilt smacked into his chest harmlessly, the blade sheared off from the lightening-quick counterslice.  Fireflash whimpered involuntarily and stumbled backwards as Darkflash advanced on him.  Fireflash looked around desperately.  There was no one to help him, his forces having left several minutes ago to go back to the dunes.  He bit his lip and stood up quickly, then slashed inexpertly at Darkflash.  One of Darkflash's blades mimicked his attack.  The sabre edge connected with the short sword, then passed right through it.  Fireflash whimpered nervously as he stood holding a short sword and a REALLY short sword.  The other half of the blade clanged on the floor.  Fireflash gulped as he looked at his halved sword and dropped it, holding his remaining one in a defensive position.  Darkflash advanced on him, then with the force of ten badger lords, swung the sabre that didn't cut Fireflash's first blade in half at Fireflash's remaining sword.  Fireflash was left without speech as he stared in horror at the place where the blade was.  Then he looked down at the ground where seven shards of metal now littered it.  Darkflash looked at his blade.  Not a notch, scratch, or dent.  Darkflash licked the back of the sabre, smiling menacingly.  Fireflash could only shake his head.  Then, he somehow snapped to reality.  He dropped the hilt, which was all that remained of his weapon, and blew out of the door like the devil was chasing him…which was what was happening.  Darkflash chased him about two miles away from his house and stopped as weariness suddenly overtook him.  He had lost too much blood.  He struggled forward a bit more, stopped, then collapsed, unconscious, as Fireflash raced onwards, trying to put as much space between him and the invincible killing hare as he could.

The rest of Salamandastron slept on, unaware of the events that had just taken place.  They would awaken tomorrow to find Darkflash missing and his mother and father dead, boiled to the death in a pot of scalding hot water.  And they would find out later that same day who did it when Fireflash's army would attack the mountain fortress directly after a proclamation that he was responsible.  He would leave Darkflash out, however.  Never would he allow anyone to speak of that name again within his range of hearing.

WHOO.  Chapter 3 done, and Darkflash has just gotten a slight tinge of revenge by haunting Fireflash for the rest of the traitor's life!  Pretty tragic, Darkflash's history, and its only going to get worse, I can assure you.  Next chapter, Darkflash is saved by a beautiful albino squirrelmaid named Angel.  Coincidence, is it not, that the first thing out of his mouth when he sees her is going to be "Whoa, an angel, I must be in Dark Forest…"?  I dunno.  I'll let you decide.  Catch ya tomorrow!


	4. History Part III

History Part III 

By Greg Mills

I wish I owned Redwall.  Then I wouldn't have to put up a fanfic that apparently no one is reading from the lack of reviews I have on this site, but oh well, that's life.

Note, there MAY BE (emphasis on may and be) some cross-special relationships going on in this chapter.  I'm not sure; I make this up as I go along (god, the life of a Role player, whoohoo!), so try not to be too disturbed, eh?  I'm not going to guarantee anything though.

A young albino squirrelmaid of about 14 seasons (I'm just judging that seasons are equivalent to years in the Redwall world) whistled as she walked along the dunes of the coastline, enjoying the beautiful sunrise over the horizon.  She wore a white dress of silk that matched her perfectly.  Her magenta eyes sparkled slightly in the faint sunlight as she stared at it.  As she walked, she failed to notice the dark shape lying on the sands in front of her until it was too late.  She tripped and fell, landing face first in the sand.  She got up slowly, rubbing her head, which had landed on a rock, quietly lamenting to herself.

"Owww!  What tripped me?  That hurt, now I'm gonna have a big lump on my head!"

She stops talking as she sees what it was she fell over.

"EEK!!  A dead shadow of a hare!"

She jumps back, and then stops as she looks closer.

"Oh, its just a plain dead shadow black hare…I'm such a thickhead sometimes…"

She stops talking again as the "dead" shadow black hare groans and rolls over slightly.  The albino scrambles over to his side.

"Oh, you poor thing, you're still alive, you must be in terrible shape!  Wow, that's quite a painful looking neck injury, it's a wonder you're still alive!"

She nervously bites her lip as she looks around.  She was a healer, but she didn't have her things on her.

"Oh, great, the one time I don't have my medicines, and I come across somebeast who's almost dead."

She frowns as she looks him over.  He looked a little too heavy for her to carry.  She sighs miserably.

"Great, what am I supposed to do?"

Darkflash mutters something, and then sits up so quick that the squirrelmaid jumps backwards with a soft squeak of surprise.  Darkflash shakes his head, his vision blurry.

"Ah, man, my head, where am I?"

She shakes his head with a bit more vigor, and then stops as it starts to cause him a headache.  He looks around and spots the albino squirrelmaid.

"Oh, peachy, its an angel.  I'm dead.  Typical."

The squirrelmaid smiles slightly yet shudders as well at the sound of his voice.  Its smooth as silk, yet dark, quiet, and carried a sinister sort of note in it.  She shakes her head.

"No, I'm not an angel, though that's what my name is…"

Darkflash blinks in mild surprise at both things, the fact she was named Angel, and that she wasn't actually AN angel.

"Ok, so I'm not dead, then?"

Angel shook her head, smiling at him.

"Nope, 'fraid not sir.

Darkflash shakes his head.

"Ugh, I hate being called 'sir,' my name's Darkflash."

Angel smiled a bit wider and nodded her head at him.

"Pleased to meet you, Darkflash.  I can see how you got your name."

Darkflash shrugs.  "Oddly enough, its an old family trait to have a name like this…"

As he says this, the memories of the previous night slam into his mind.  Darkflash groans and closes his eyes.  Angel looks at him worriedly.

"What's the matter?"

Darkflash shakes his head and sighs.

"It…its nothing."

Angel nods quietly, not believing him.  After a second she stands up and holds her paw out to him.

"Well, we've got to patch you up, you can't get too far with an injury like that, ya know."

Darkflash nods and takes her hand, struggling up.  As he does, he almost falls back over as a huge wave of dizziness hits him.  He clutches his head and struggles to stay standing.  Angel bites her lip worriedly.

"Oh, yeah, we've definitely gotta do something for you, and quickly.  Think you can walk?"

Darkflash groggily nodded and began walking forward slowly.  Angel walks alongside him, glancing at him worriedly.  Darkflash notices and shakes his head slightly.

"Don't worry, I'm fine, just kinda having a hard time focusing, that's all."

Angel nods at him, still worried.  After a while, Darkflash manages to start to walk a bit more steadily.  Eventually he manages to keep up a normal pace, though he stumbles from time to time.  He almost falls over completely, but Angel catches him, almost falling with him.  Darkflash wasn't fat or anything, but his muscle weight from his military training kinda put a few dozen pounds on him, and Angel was more of the delicate type, so it was rather hard for her to catch him.  Darkflash stands up again and smiles at her.

"Thanks."

Angel smiles back.

"You're welcome.  Now come on, we're only a few minutes away."

Darkflash nods and takes a deep breath and continues after Angel.

12 minutes later…

Angel nods at a dune.  "We're home!"

Darkflash blinks.  "Uh…where?"

Angel chuckles.  "Its right in front of your nose, crosseye."

Darkflash mock-scowls at her.  "Its Darkflash, prissy-paws, and I'm honestly not seeing it."

Angel rolls her eyes at him and goes over to the dune.  She pushes lightly on the side of it, and some sand falls inwards, revealing a door right into the dune.  Angel laughs at the expression on Darkflash's face.  Darkflash blinks, his mouth hanging open slightly.

"Uh…you live in a dune?  How'd you manage THAT?"

Angel continues laughing, and finally manages to sober up a bit, long enough to tell him.

"Well, it took me a while, I'll tell you that.  When I left my parents, I had nowhere to stay, so I got an idea.  I had a friend, who's a mole, hollow out the dune while I shored it up.  Eventually, it was finished, but it took months.  Now I have my own disguised home, safe from attackers.  Knock on wood, of course."

Darkflash can only shake his head in amazement.  After a second, he gets his speech back.

"Why'd you leave your parents?"

Angel shrugs.  "Its an old custom.  At the age of 12, the children must leave to go out on their own.  My tribe has been doing that for generations…it may explain why there are so few of us ANYWHERE.  Most of the ones that leave die because they are too young to fend for themselves."  She shrugs again.  "I just got lucky, I supposed."

Darkflash shakes his head.  "I've heard of weird customs, but that takes the biscuit."

Angel laughs.  "You're telling me.  I don't really miss my parents, though.  They were too goody-goody for my liking, they always annoyed me.  'Clean your hands, Angel, go to bed at sunset, Angel, work your ass off Angel, it teaches you discipline Angel,' AGH!  It was enough to drive me insane!  Thank god I don't have to deal with them anymore."

Darkflash shakes his head and speaks quietly, almost to himself.  "I wish my parents were still around…my dad may have been strict, and my mother may have always been busy, but I loved them."

Angel raises her eyebrows pityingly.  "Your parents are dead?"

Darkflash nods.  "Yeah, my 'friend' murdered them…"

As he says this, his eyes start going red.  Angel tilts her head at him.  "Your own friend killed your parents?"

Darkflash nods.  At Angel's voice, the hatred falls from him somehow.  "Yes.  I had trusted him for all my life, I thought he was my best friend…but last night, he showed up at my house with a band of vermin.  He had killed all of the workers in the fields, or he had captured them all.  In any case, he betrayed us and killed my mother and father by torturous methods, methods I won't tell you for fear of disturbing you.  One of his vermin ran me through the neck with a spear.  Somehow, all it did was cut through skin and flesh.  Somehow, I missed tearing through the muscle, throat, or blood veins…its like a miracle."

Angel nods sadly at him, then a light clicks in her head.

"OH, we're supposed to patch you up, come on, let's get inside!"

Darkflash nods, not arguing.  This injury was hurting like the devil.

Once inside, he looked around.  The place was lit with candles, and had a bed, a few chairs, a table, a stone oven, a small restroom, (Take in mind, it's a basic midevil bathroom, consisting of a very deep hole, and nothing more.  I like to perceive them as having toilet paper, dunno why, lol, I'm such a literalist) and even a small tub for bathing over in the corner with a screen.  Darkflash looked around with interest as Angel rummaged around a small bag for her herbs and medicines.  

She found them after a few minutes, and nodded at him.  "All right, hold still, I'm gonna put some herbs in this bandage, it may sting for a few seconds, but it'll heal the injury pretty quick."

Darkflash nodded back and stayed stock still as she worked the bandage around his neck.  As she worked, he couldn't help but notice how nice she smelled.  Nor could he ignore the fact he was oddly enjoying her touch.  Angel muttered quietly to herself as he worked.  She stole glances at him every now and then.  She couldn't help but realize he was pretty cute.  Both of them, though they didn't know it, smacked themselves mentally, both thinking the same thing mentally, "What am I thinking?  He/she isn't even the same species!"  But they both knew, without each other knowing about it, they had somehow fallen in love.

*sniff sniff.  Its so beautiful!  But in any case, some of you, or most likely all of you from my previous warning guessed this was going to happen, lol.  I may suck at romance fics, but every story needs a tinge of romance, I guess.  The story will continue tomorrow.  What will happen?  Well, I don't know, because, again, I'm making this up as I go along, although most of this IS from my ROC character's past (and yes, my ROC character IS Darkflash, I'm just adding in a storyline to his past, and there is a lot of it.  It'll cover several chapters more, then the present day stuff begins, and that's when the story hits the action sequence.  Plenty of stuff for people of all types, IF ONLY YOU PEOPLE WOULD READ THIS!!!!  PLZ, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, REVIEW!*


	5. History Part IV

  The Assassin   History Part IV 

  Disclaimer:  Read all the other disclaimers.

Claimer:  Darkflash is mine, all mine, muwahahhahaha!!!!

  Note:  I am not dead, but I almost was.  Got shot in the gut by an Ak-47.  I'm fine now, but I'm not dead.  So I'll continue my story.  Sorry for the long disappearance, and thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, I'm glad I'm doing some sort of writing correctly!

  It was three days after Darkflash had met Angel.  Though by now they both were sure they were in love with each other, and each knew the feelings were mutual, they had oddly distanced themselves, as neither one could bring up the guts to admit their feelings for the other.  It may have been easier if both were over 18 seasons, but since were both relatively young, both were inexperienced towards this sort of thing.  Thus it was that Darkflash and Angel set themselves apart, barely even managing to get shyly whispered single worded sentences out to one another before they both fell silent, each one looking at each other until the other looked up.  Typical young teen love, eh?  Well, this would have led to the path of emotional healing for Darkflash, who had still not recovered mentally from the trauma of his parents' torturous demise.  But the events that would come next would only cut deeper into the hare's emotional wounds, causing them to leave marks on his conscious that would never go away.

  A horde of vermin was charging at him and his father.  Darkflash fought, but when he killed one, it would come back to life, even if the vermin were missing their heads.  Darkflash continued fighting madly, until a lightening bolt struck him through his neck.  He tried to stand, but his energy had been sapped.  He felt like a great force was standing on him as he tried to stand, his eyes fixed in horror as his parents were thrown into a huge pot of boiling water.  All this as a mad laugh filled Darkflash's ears…

  Darkflash's eyes snapped open.  It was just another nightmare.  Darkflash sat up quietly, panting equally as quiet.  This nightmare had haunted him ever since that night when his parents had both met their terrible end.  Darkflash shook his head and put his hand in his hands.  He sat like that for a moment until the memories of the nightmare receded into the darkness, and were eventually forgotten.  Darkflash lay back down on the bed.  He stared at the ceiling for a while, then rolled over slightly.  His eyes rested on the slumbering form of an albino squirrelmaid next to him.  Darkflash smiled slightly as he looked at her.  She had saved him from a possible death, welcomed him into her house, tended his injuries, and even attempted to help mend his emotional injuries.  And they hardly knew each other.  Darkflash continued staring at her.  He still had not yet been able to bring himself to admit his feelings for her.  He loved her with such a passion it was going to drive him insane if he had to bottle it in forever.  Darkflash stroked her cheek lovingly.  Angel smiled in her sleep and moved her head closer into his hand.  Darkflash smiled, withdrew his hand, and rolled onto his back once more.  Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.  Angel's eyes opened slightly.  She had been awake the whole time.  She sighed slightly and smiled a little to herself, then rolled onto her side, so she was facing Darkflash.  She took a deep breath, as if willing herself to do something extremely risky, then inched closer to the jet-black hare, until she was finally right up against him.  He rolled over and took his arm and put it around her as she did so.  She smiled to herself as she drifted off once more.

Darkflash woke as he heard the familiar sound of birds chirping.  He also felt something warmly soft and comfortable against him and under his arm.  His eyes opened slightly to see Angel lying right up against him, as if they had been snuggling the whole night.  Darkflash bit his lip slightly.  What would Angel think if she woke up with his arm around her?  As he moved his arm slowly off of her, a soft and quiet voice eminated from Angel.

"Don't worry about it…I did that."  Darkflash stopped, his arm still on top of her.  Angel rolled over slightly and smiled at him, her magenta eyes twinkling slightly in light from the rising sun that was coming in from a small window above them.  Darkflash paused for a second, then smiled back at her warmly.  Then they both embraced each other, as each sighed in unison into the other's ear, "I love you."

Ok, this was just a romance chapter here.  Next chapter will tie in with this one without any change in time.  See ya soon!


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